January 30, 2009

HMM: Oil rises after better-than-expected U.S. GDP data. Funny, most of the U.S. media reported the GDP as bad news, and you had to scroll way down to see that the data were better-than-expected. I guess the markets pay closer attention to the actual numbers . . . .

UPDATE: James Holloway emails: “GDP of -3.8 was below the -5.5 consensus only because of a buildup in business inventories — ie, stuff that’s gonna sit unsold on shelves and in warehouses. Back out the buildup — a one-time event that won’t be repeated — and GDP was down 5.1.” Okay, so how come oil went up on the news?